This time, Daryl Morey has reason to believe the draft-day deal he has sought since becoming the Rockets' general manager will come through. To his surprise, however, he wouldn't mind if it doesn't.

Morey, who said he has found the draft class of 2011 to be better and deeper than he expected, has tried to move up in the draft in each of his seasons with the Rockets. This season, he believes he has a better chance of making some kind of move, armed with an additional first-round choice, a nearly full roster and an extra pick (with some stipulations) next season.

Morey has made his usual calls to move up from the 14th pick in Thursday's draft and has been open about that being his preference since before the lottery. He can sweeten that sort of deal by including the 23rd pick of the first round, a Magic pick acquired from the Suns in the Aaron Brooks trade.

Morey, however, is chasing other moves, even offering four first-round picks over the next two seasons. He already has traded the Rockets' first-round pick next year to the Nets in the deal to acquire Terrence Williams. But in the search for a foundation player, Morey has offered a combination of picks that could include this season's pick, next season's pick acquired from the Knicks in the Tracy McGrady trade and even the portion of the Rockets' pick next year that is not protected and that they would not be compelled to send to the Nets.

"We have a lot of options on the table," Morey said. "We have four No. 1s we could trade over the next two years. That's our goal, to see if we could pull off something like that."

Loaded lineup

Morey has been clear about his goal to land a signature star, whether by moving up or dealing for a veteran. He has other reasons to try to select one more-coveted player rather than use up all three draft picks.

The Rockets have 11 players signed to guaranteed contracts, and Morey has said he wants to bring back free agents Yao Ming and Chuck Hayes. That would not seem to leave room for three rookies chosen in the top 38 picks of the draft (the Rockets have the Clippers' second-round pick).

The Rockets already have seven players with three or fewer years of experience, not including the late-season additions with non-guaranteed deals.

Though NBA guidelines would not permit Morey to discuss how the probable work stoppage or changes in the collective bargaining agreement would impact draft decisions, the expects a move toward a hard salary cap could make an offer of multiple draft picks more attractive.

With a hard salary cap, teams are likely to want to fill more roster spots with players under rookie-scale contracts.

Fickle first round

If they keep their picks, the Rockets could seek at least one player who might remain overseas rather than play immediately, but the unpredictability and varied opinion of the first round could make a player the Rockets would take at No. 14 still available at No. 23.

Several players — Bismack Biyombo, Jimmer Fredette and Kahwi Leonard - who could go as high as No. 5 also could slip to the middle of the first round. Several others who could sneak into the top 10 - Alec Burks, Donatas Motiejunas, Klay Thompson and Chris Singleton - could be available at No. 14.

Either way, Morey said he considers this year's draft class to be much better than most - and even better than he did a few months ago.

"We'll be fine at 14," Morey said. "We'll definitely get a guy we like. We're also trying to move up. We're looking at some trades that involve trading our picks for players. We'd also trade out (of the first round).

"I see this draft as a lot deeper than a lot of people have talked about. We like the draft. We like the players we can get."